The Friday Fizz

Gary Randazzo

01/12/2007

Dick Vitale, Nick Saban, Jim Mora Jr., the Pac-10, east coast bias, Andre "The Hawk" Dawson and Bill Cowher are all a part of the Fizz. So is T.O., Tony Romo and my most favorite Christmas DVD gift of all time. In fact there's not much I've left out so pour yourself a martini, enjoy the article and kick off what's expected to be a great weekend of college and professional sports.

So let me get this straight. Jim Mora Jr. speaks candidly with a Seattle based radio jockey about his dream job as being the head coach at the University of Washington and he gets crucified by the Atlanta Falcons front office who fired him one day after their football season came to an end. Conversely, Nick Saban lies openly to God and Country about being interested in the Alabama head coaching job and basically chastises the media for even having the audacity to question his word and he not only gets hired by the Crimson Tide, but signs the most lucrative contract in the business. There's a lesson to be learned here. Unfortunately, it's the wrong one.

Dickie V has officially moved to the top of my [insert another word for excrement] list after his comments last Saturday night during ESPN's College Basketball Gamenight show. If you didn't hear, Dukie V said that he was sick and tired of having to hear about all of the east coast bias talk. What's worse is he referenced Lute Olson and the part from his autobiography, "The Stories of My Life," which talks about his concerns over east coast bias and how it negatively affects teams out West. What's funny about the whole thing is that Dick Vitale was trying to put the east coast bias thing to rest by saying that the Pac-10 is not the best conference in the country, WHICH IT IS HANDS DOWN…THAT'S HANDS DOWN, but one of the three best along with the SEC and the ACC. Seriously, he can't even give the Pac-10 credit when credit is due without throwing in the ACC. Sure, Vitale, there's no east coast bias as long as you say so. Perhaps if you didn't spend the last 12 years creating an east coast bias with you and all your cronies then you wouldn't have to make such stupid comments like those you made Saturday night in trying to dismiss that it even exists.

Speaking of the West, last week Arizona had the toughest schedule in the country and UCLA had the third most difficult. Both teams were in the top four in the RPI as well as ranked in the top seven of both polls. So, what happened this weekend in the Pac-10? Oregon beat UCLA and unranked (but should be if there wasn't any east coast bias) Washington State upset Arizona in overtime. Meanwhile, USC upset Oregon on Thursday night, Cal upset Stanford at Maples on Wednesday and Arizona State played Washington tough on Saturday.

Have you had enough East versus West talk? I haven't. If there's no bias, explain to me how Ohio State is ranked number five in the country. They've played three Top 25 teams and have now lost to all three. Granted they were North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin but the telling part of the story is who have they beaten? Let's see – VMI, Loyola-Chicago, Kent State, East Kentucky, USF, YSU, Valapraiso, Cleveland State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Coppin State, Indiana and Illinois. Impressive – not really. Top 5 – no way.

My buddy Mikey G bought me the Beerfest DVD for Christmas. I finally watched the movie last Saturday morning. I watched it again Saturday afternoon after Oregon beat UCLA. I watched part of it after the BCS Championship Game and I think I'll start it over again from the beginning tonight. What am I trying to say here? SEE THIS MOVIE. And just like that, you have my B-Movie of the Month choice.

The fall of the Romo Empire? Have you ever seen more of a roller coast ride of a half season as the one Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had? Holy cow. First, he's the next Troy Aikman. Then he's rumored to be dating [insert Hollywood celebrity of choice here]. Then he's being called out by Terrell Owens of all people. Then the Tuna questions whether or not Romo will even make the team next year. Then he leads his team into Seattle and marches them on what appears to be the game winning drive only to bobble the snap on a 19-yard field goal attempt that would have given Dallas a 23-21 lead with less than two minutes to play. Just brutal. I can say this though, Romo's got the guts of a leader the way he stood at that press conference and answered every question like a man. Good for him.

As a Steelers fan I'm really sad to see Bill Cowher go. That's all I'm going to say. No, seriously. I don't want to talk about it. It's not you it's me. I swear. It was fun while it lasted. Let's just leave it at that.

Stories are beginning to surface from Dallas that players are saying that having Terrell Owens on the team was a major distraction this season. Nahhhhhhh! Seriously? I find that hard to believe. If any team offers T.O. anything more than the league minimum next year then shame on them because he's not even worth that much.

While we're on the NFL those with special interest on the games this weekend can take delight in knowing my picks ahead of time: Pats, Colts, Eagles and Seahawks. Again, if you've been paying attention, go opposite and you can take the family on that trip to Disney World that you've always talked about.

Arizona plays host to the Oregon schools this week. These are absolutely must win games for the Wildcats. I say this because a road trip to Los Angeles to play USC and UCLA looms next before Arizona welcomes in the top-ranked North Carolina Tarheels on January 27.

Thank you to Florida and Ohio State for giving us the most average national championship game in years. Outside of Ginn Jr.'s opening kick off return little, if anything exciting happened.

During the game, I couldn't help but notice some of the disciplines the Florida players were majoring in. My favorite was Building Construction. When I went to school, and it wasn't too long ago, if you wanted to major in building construction you actually had to drop out of college and then head down to the local union hall to put your name on a list. A week later you reported to a guy named Hank who paid you $8 an hour to stockpile busted up cinderblocks.

My prediction on the next wacky college major: Video Gaming. Or is that already a major at Arizona State?

Did anyone else notice that the Chiefs mustered up a whopping zero first downs in the first half of their playoff game against the Colts? How is that possible you ask? Well, they only had 16 total yards. Seriously, put me in coach. I mean, give me ten throws and I'm good for at least one 30-yard completion to a receiver on a skinny post route. That would increase your offensive production by like what, 200 percent.

Congratulations to Arizona football for receiving a verbal commitment from Rob Gronkowski. Not only is Gronko a great person and an outstanding athlete, he's the perfect fit at Tight End for Sonny Dykes' new offense.

Quite frankly I don't want to ever see Pete Carroll leave USC. Yeah, it makes it tough on the Pac-10 with the Trojans being the prohibitive favorite every year but I actually think this is an opportunity for all the teams to get better. Arizona for one has raised its game with the Stoops' introducing Arizona to the national recruiting scene for the first time that I could ever remember. Besides, who wants to play and beat mediocre teams all the time? The Pac-10 as a whole is on the rise and as much as I hate to admit it, the Trojans competing for national championships lately has played a big part in reinvigorating the conference. Now, Arizona and the others need to start to find more ways to beat those sunnuvahguns.

Baseball schmaseball but let me say this. If the sportswriters are going to overlook Mark McGwire's amazing statistics and penalize him for "allegedly" doing steroids, then stop being hypocrites and vote in honest ballplayers who had outstanding but not amazing careers by doing things the right way like Andre Dawson, Jim Rice, Goose Gossage and Lee Smith.

Thursday night in the Pac-10 furthered the conference's case as being the toughest in the nation. Cellar dweller ASU lost, but took Oregon to the wire, Oregon State refused to let Arizona run away from them, Stanford bested Washington by one and Wazzu again proved that they're no fluke by beating Cal on the road by 17.

Lastly, is it just me or does hearing that Antoine Cason has decided to return to Arizona for his senior season feel like we just got a verbal commitment from a 5-star recruit. His coming back for one more year is as big as it gets for an Arizona squad that is finely ripe to break through and makes some serious noise.